Munchausen syndrome by internet

jamtart6

jellyhead wrote: »

I believed in him!

I like the theory that he was made up by a group of university students. Either way very entertaining (& irritating!) & definitely not malicious like many of these stories on the thread.

jellyhead

notakid wrote: »

And this is the reason (s) I will never ever meet anyone from MSE, even tho I love you all very much!:p:rotfl:

:rotfl: There's a small number of people I've met on here who I would meet in real life, but only because I've been facebook friends with them for years, and we had our own little thread for a while where we got to know each other very well. Martin did a story on us (the bad mums thread) clubbing together to buy a cot for a member, but it was more because we'd become close friends than a charity thing. The member never asked for a gift - we did it because we were mates.

I wouldn't want to become facebook friends with everyone, but sometimes on a forum you meet people who you prefer to people you know in real life, because they are more like you etc.

I'm socially awkward and am quite difficult to be friends with in real life I suspect ... my online friends are more forgiving :rotfl:

angelil

These stories also bring up an interesting psychological issue. I can't remember the name of it but the theory goes that people who are being scammed, when told by others that it's a scam, are far more likely to side with the scammer than with the person trying to help them, even if the helpers have been proved to be reliable in the past.

notakid

There seems to be two types of scammers, the ones who are trying to take advantage, feeling powerful for lying to people and or misrep their circumstances to gain money/information and those who are disturbed in some way.

To be honest I do have far more sympathy for the latter.

I still believe Student Phil was real. I just hope he has a real life now!:p I do worry about him from time to time.

mrcow

littlestar1981 wrote: »

Funnily enough, here's another current story of a similar thing on this years America's Got Talent. Watching the video knowing it is a hoax is quite chilling...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2156482/Americas-Got-Talent-fraud-Timothy-Poe-receives-death-threats--future-competition-hangs-balance.html

Sorry if it makes me a mug, but I can't/don't believe that guy is lying.


Someone couldn't do that. There's got to have been a mix up somewhere.

btw - I'm definitely one of the more cynical posters on these forums. I've seen far too many trolls not to. I'd reckon that about 50% of the "new user ID" threads on the Families board are fake, if not more. Especially the "abuse" and "affair" ones. Reason = these are the topics that get people going most.

PS> I 100% believed in (and loved!) Student Phil too. No made up person could ever have been that inane. I like to think he's still here under an alterID having matured a little now.

Nicki

angelil wrote: »

These stories also bring up an interesting psychological issue. I can't remember the name of it but the theory goes that people who are being scammed, when told by others that it's a scam, are far more likely to side with the scammer than with the person trying to help them, even if the helpers have been proved to be reliable in the past.

Stockholm syndrome?

Ich_2

Another forum I use has a specific part to arrange meetings worldwide, I met some folk 4 years ago that has led to good friendships.
Next month I'm attending a largish "bash" in the SW that will be attended by folk from a large part of Europe and the US, another forum has something similar with one guy apparently coming from Australia to attend.

The first forum is totally international with nearly 360,000 members (nearly 5000 viewing at the moment0 and has had it's share of trolls and others. But it is well moderated and they never last very long.
Before my time it was actually responsible for unmasking a !!!!!phile which led to his arrest and imprisonment.
At present a sub-forum is actively trying to bring a con-artist to book

jason1231972

I remember an incident back in the early 2000s, where not everybody had access to the internet at home, but just about everybody did have a mobile phone (but, crucially, not a camera phone!).

One of my female friends got a 'wrong number' text one day. As I remember, it was just a random phrase, something like "yes, will be there at 9pm" or suchlike. Therefore, it was constructed as though it was a genuine wrong number accident, but turned out to be probably fake, as below.

Anyway, 'wrong number' person turned out to be a 30-something man. A divorced man. Who also happened to be handsome (natch!) and had a fab career (lawyer). On top of this, he had five children of varying ages, some of whom he'd fathered as a teenager, meaning that he had 2-3 children (who were equally dashing, obviously) who were themselves adults!

My friend and her 'man' texted for something like 5 years. Never once did they speak over the phone (and my friend didn't have regular internet access), let alone visit each other in person. The texts ranged from banal, to raunchy (!), to deeply personal - my friend revealed to this man details of childhood abuse that few other people knew about.

The man was always going through some drama or another. He was imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit (but managed to still practice law successfully), his child got cancer, he spawned a few other children, and - icing on the cake - he revealed that he'd been a closet homosexual for years and was now 'into' men (kindly, he made an exception for my friend, who he 'loved').

The man disappeared off the face of the earth one day, without warning. The texts just completely evaporated, and when my friend tried to call him (something that'd never happened before), the line was disconnected.

So, God knows who he was, but I do know that the 'loss' of him put my friend in a dark place for several years. Despite her apparent stupidity (not inisisting on phonecalls or meetings, believing his far-fetched tales, etc.), I think she loved this man, insofar as it's possible to love someone you've never met. She wasn't (and isn't) some naive young girl, she was a grown and otherwise mature, responsible, intelligent and professional woman. But she got suckered in by some unknown force whom I still believe to have 'broken' her a little.

Hermia

angelil wrote: »

These stories also bring up an interesting psychological issue. I can't remember the name of it but the theory goes that people who are being scammed, when told by others that it's a scam, are far more likely to side with the scammer than with the person trying to help them, even if the helpers have been proved to be reliable in the past.

I think that's because it's easier to attack the messenger than accept you've been conned. I suppose it's the same as a wife attacking a mistress rather than admit that her husband is a scumbag who has chosen to betray her.

I do find it hard to work out why people would send money and gifts to people they have never met in these situations. Especially, because in my experience genuinely needy people are embarrassed to ask for stuff and don't want to put anyone to any trouble. I think the only thing to do is in these situations if offer other help (e.g. information on local organisations who will provide assistance) and see what they say. If the person ignores you or totally dismisses that idea without even trying it I would have my suspicions.

barbarawright

Hermia wrote: »

I think that's because it's easier to attack the messenger than accept you've been conned. I suppose it's the same as a wife attacking a mistress rather than admit that her husband is a scumbag who has chosen to betray her.

I do find it hard to work out why people would send money and gifts to people they have never met in these situations. Especially, because in my experience genuinely needy people are embarrassed to ask for stuff and don't want to put anyone to any trouble. I think the only thing to do is in these situations if offer other help (e.g. information on local organisations who will provide assistance) and see what they say. If the person ignores you or totally dismisses that idea without even trying it I would have my suspicions.

Ages ago I was on a mailing list for book collectors. Someone had a sick child who was desperate to own (not just read) a whole bunch of highly collectable books. Posts pointing out a well organised collector's lending library scheme in her area were completely ignored - apparently ownership was the only thing that would satisfy the poor mite :rotfl: